Apart from providing a stable platform for force projection and defence, one of the most important tasks of any naval vessel is RAS (replenishment at sea). RAS is a force multiplier that extends the range and time at sea of both surface combatants and amphibious vessels, especially during multi-role operations, when vessels go through munitions, food and fuel at exponentially faster rates.
RAS is also one of the most dangerous tasks that naval vessels perform. Ships in a resupply configuration are restricted in their ability to manoeuvre and will have to rely on others within the task group to provide operational defence while resupply operations are undertaken. Station keeping between large naval ships during abeam replenishment is a safety critical operation due to repulsion and attraction forces on the hulls caused by pressure wave interaction between the ships as they sail in close proximity.
Traditional hydraulic RAS equipment is under high pressure during operations and that risks leaks and spills during mission-critical evolutions. Kongsberg Maritime has developed the engineering and design basis behind electrical RAS equipment.
Electrical RAS systems can also be deployed quickly and are significantly more reliable than hydraulic systems when installed in an open deck marine environment. They require less maintenance and overhaul periods in service, which also reduces overall lifetime costs of the system. The marine environmental risk of volume oil spillage is also eliminated.
One of the greatest examples of long-range naval operations came during the 1982 Falklands Conflict, in which the Royal Navy went into action over 7,000 nautical miles from home. The lessons learned from that deployment were behind the initial designs for our electrically operated RAS equipment.
Since then, Kongsberg Maritime has continued to pioneer and develop the use of electric motors powering the winches and stays on a RAS system. Today, we are the leading supplier of electrically operated RAS systems because it is the proven way to get better RAS results over the lifetime of a resupply vessel.
We continue to develop the technology and capacity of our RAS systems, with a focus on making sure the maximum amount of supply gets to warships in the minimum amount of time, while maintaining a high level of safety, reliability and system integrity.
A dedicated team works exclusively on RAS equipment and design from our Gateshead facility in the UK, while providing close support for our customers.
